Wall and ceiling washing machine



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 22, 1941. H. D. wlLLARD wALL AND CEILING wAsHINGMACHINE Filed Apil 1, 1958 April 22, 1941. y H. D. WILLARD WALL ANDCEILING WASHING MACHINE i Filed April 1, 193s 2 sheets-sheet 2 Fvg-8. 17

Patented Apr. 22, 1941 WALL AND CEILING WASHING MACHINE Harvey DavidWillard, Chicago, Ill., 'assignor of one-half to Harry Jacyn, Ghicago,Ill.

Application April 1, A1938, Serial No. 199.375

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in wall' and ceiling washingmachines that may be used for Washing floors and like surfaces as well.One object is to provide novel meansv for washing such surfaces withgreat speed, ease and 'emciency' thus very materially reducing the costof labor and eliminating the objectionable features ordinarily presentin such operations.

A further object is to provide a power operated y machine for this classof work that is readily movable about a room, easily operated by oneman, compact in assembly, durable in use and not likely to get out oforder. A further object is to provide a machine that, in use, requiresvery little effort on the part of the operator and that due to thespeedat which it maybe operrated is adapted to perform many times theFig. 3 is a view of the machine, reduced, in side elevation.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3 with the flexible shaft andhoseconnections omitted.

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of a free hand grip employed.

Fig. 6 is a. top plan view on the line 6 5 o1 Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a bottom orl inverted plan view of' Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view through Fig. 3.

Like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout theseveral views.

Ihe invention provides a` rotary brush arranged in a housing open at oneend, the housing having .water intake and exhaust means, the water beingsupplied to the brush by a pump which draws it into and through thehousing and out again, the housing having handles by means of which itmay be applied to the surface to be washed in such manner that therotary brush will travel thereover.

The pump exhaipsts air from the brush housing and draws or sucks watertherefrom after the same has been supplied to the-brush so that thewater will not escape from the open end of the housing to'flood the'work surface. 'I'he open end of the brush enclosure closely engaging thesurface being washed will cooperate with this pump suction to preventwater leakage.

In the event that the brush housing is acci- V- dentally, or otherwise,disengaged from the surface being cleaned, air will be admitted freelyand the pump will operate to draw in the same instead of drawing thewater, thus avoiding any material water escape through the open end ofthe housing over the surface being cleaned. The reference numeral Idenotes the brush housing which is substantially circular in crosssection, open at one end, the opposite en d 2 being closed and `of fiatexternal appearance. Secured to the housing I is a handle 3 by means ofwhich the operator grasps the Washer.

Arranged in spaced relation to the closed end of the housing is ltheinner partition B so 'that a water chamber or reservoir is formed whichis provided with the intake orifice 9 for connection with the water hoseII that extends through the flexible conduit 6 to the watertank I2 towithdraw water therefrom, said tank being arranged upon the dolly I3.Secured in the closed end 2 of the housing is the flared collar I l thatserves as a support for the gland nut I la. A tubular stem I5 havinggrease gland I' to vprovide lubrication receives the flexible shaft I'Ithat extends through the conduit 6 to the motor I8 connected by belt i9to the pump 20, said motor and pump I disposed upon the opposite side ofpartition 8` being arranged upon the water tank I2. The flexible shaftI1 is' connected, by means of a tubular nut Mb, to one end of the brushshaft 22 y that extends from the crown of the upper gland nutdownwardly, through the water reservoir formed by the housing end 2 andpartition 8 and through the bearing 23 at the pit of said reservoir andis threaded into engagement with the disc 24 adjustably connected byscrews 25 to the brush 26 provided with bristles 21a, said brush shaftextendmg through said disc and brush and into the bristle area andterminating at 28, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The diameter of the brush is less than that of the housing so that aspace is formed 4within the latter all about the brush. Thebrush housingisl provided with an outlet orifice 21 of materially larger diameterthan the intake orifice to which the drain water hose 29 is secured thatextends through the conduit 6 to the pump 20 and therefrom into the tankI2. The outlet Orifice 21 ls with respect to the intake orifice toprovide a drain.' The brush shaft zz is formed within the reservoircompartment with perforations 30 so that water may pass from saidreservoir through the tubular brush shaft and. out the lower end of thesame upon the brush bristles and then out through the drain orince. Aclamping band '34 `of resilient material extends about the lower end ofthe housing l and is formed with the ears 3l engaged by a screw 33whereby the band is held in position. Interposed between said band andthe lower end of the housingV is a rubber collar or squeegee 33 thatprojects beyond the outer or lower edge of said band, which edge 32terminates slightly beyond the adjacent edge of the housing. Pressureupon the free edge of the collar 33 in engagement with the work may bendCTI this edge slightly or flatten it so that the bristles y expansioncoil spring 3l that yieldingly thrusts.

the brush outwardly so that it is spaced from said disc as shown in fulllines in Fig. 2. This spring 3| is seated in a recess in the brush headand encircles the shaft 22 andy abuts a tubular extension 24a of thedisc 24. Pressure of the work upon the free ends of the bristles maycause the brush head to move into the dotted line position, Fig. 2,abutting the disc 24, said brush head being slidably supported upon thescrews 25 to permit this movement. A tubular hand grip 31 ts freely andmovable longitudinally over the member I'5 to facilitate handling anduse of the machine, saidl hand grip being readily movable longitudinallyof the member I5 while the handle 3 is grasped, said handle serving -tooscillate the housing, when desired, to assist further in cleaning aparticular spot. The ared lower end of the hand grip is formed to snuglyreceive a gland nut I 4a to tighten or .loosen the same, as desired.

In use, to wash a surface with the machine the operator 1, applies themachine to the surface 50, the handle 3 and hand grip 31 being graspedas shown in Fig. 1 so that the drain orifice is disposed below theintake orice. The outer edge of the rubber collar or squeegee and thebrush bristles are in engagement with the surface Ill and move over thesame. The motor and pump are started, the motor rotating the brush bymeans of the flexible shaft connected thereto and the pump causing asuction through the outlet hose 29 which first exhausts air from thebrush housing to create a partial vacuum which draws up water from thetank I2 through the intake hose Il which passes into the water reservoirand through the brush shaft perforations into the brush shaft and outthrough the lower end of said shaft about the brush bristles and outthrough the exhaust hose to the tank again. When the bristles becomeworn through use and are thereby shortened the squeegee may be adjustedto compensate for the brush wear and make it again effective. By holdingthe hand grip 31 somewhat loosely with one hand the brush may beretained in positive engagement with a vertical surface and at the sametime the handle 3 may be used with the other hand to oscillate the brushto thoroughly cleanse a spot requiring-positive brush application.

What is claimed is:

In a manually portable surface washing machine, a housing having areservoir compartment and a brush compartment, a brush in said brushcompartment having a shaft extending through said reservoir compartmentand formed with perforations located in said reservoir compartment, aflared collar secured to one wall of said reservoirpcompartment, glandnuts secured together about said shaft and connecting said flared collarto said reservoir compartment wall and forming a grease gland about saidshaft, a flexible drive shaft for said brush shaft, an intake orificefor said reservoir compartment arranged in said wall, an exhaust oricefor said brush compartment disposed in line With said intake orifice inthe housing side wall and adapted to be connected to a suction sourceahandle for said housing, and a hand grip having a rotatable connectionwith said flared collar, said exhaust orifice being materially largerthan said intake orifice.

HARVEY DAVID WILLARD.

